6 Months Of Delight
by erik's musical angel
Summary: What happened during the six months in which Raoul took Christine away from the opera house? We know they got engaged... but what else? RxC shipping. Mainly fluff. T for language and romance, but may become M. Even if you're not an RxC shipper, I suggest trying this out, just to say "Awwwww" every few moments. Who knows, maybe you'll end up liking RxC.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello, dear readers :) Finally, a new story! I still haven't gotten my laptop fixed... Therefore this has all been typed on my iPhone. That being said, I apologize for any atrocious spelling or grammar errors. **

**Since the last time I wrote, I have become a hardcore RxC shipper thanks to my dear friend Tiffanie. So, now I've written a phanfic for my OTP. I hope you enjoy it! **

**P.S. I saw The Phantom of the Opera last Friday with Norm Lewis, Sierra Boggess, and Jeremy Hays! They were FABULOUS!**

**~oOo~**

Raoul didn't hesitate to grab Christine's arm and dash off stage as the chandelier crashed.

He didn't understand. The evening had started off rather nicely—that is until Signora Carlotta began to croak and Christine was instructed to take Carlotta's place as The Countess. Whilst Christine had been preparing to go onstage, the ballet from Act 3 came forward and nearly completed their dance... but then Joseph Buquet's newly deceased corpse fell to the stage with a lasso around his neck before the ballet could finish. Naturally, this sent everyone into a panic, and Christine made Raoul hurry to the roof with her.

_"It's not safe here, Raoul. We must go to the roof..."_ she had said as she fled up a flight of stairs in her Countess costume.

She had been quite frightened and oh, so distressed, and Raoul panicked at the sight of his beloved trembling and sniveling in such a pitiful fashion.

_"He's here... The Phantom of the Opera..." _she said over and over again, and each time, Raoul reassured her that there was no such thing as "The Phantom of the Opera," but then she pushed out of his embrace, shaking her head and crying.

"Raoul, I've seen him before... I've seen his face... I've seen where he lives... Please, Raoul, you must believe me..."

But Raoul couldn't believe her as she continued to ramble about this "Phantom." The notes had surely been nothing but an odd joke earlier, hadn't they?

He slowly took a step towards her, intense concern for her health in his eyes, and extended his hand towards her. She soon quieted and took his hand, and then he gently pulled her into his kind embrace.

Her hands rested upon his chest and his arms settled around her waist. He held her like that as he comforted her with soothing words and tender caresses. And she was soon calmed, though the poor girl's tears did not cease.

"I can't do this anymore... Oh, Raoul... It frightens me more than any nightmare..!" Raoul's arms tightened around her to calm her as she became increasingly upset. "I want to escape from this madness, from this darkness! But it cannot be so... He said it himself that I cannot ever be free..." And with that her tears turned into horrible sobs.

Raoul had no idea how he was to help her calm again... Well, he did have one idea; one brilliant, yet impossible idea... He could propose to her. But he knew she might not accept, for they had only been in a quiet courtship for a short amount of time... Still, he had already bought the ring. In fact, it was in his coat pocket at that very moment. He had put it there because he really had no exact plan of where and when he would ask her to become his wife. He had assumed he would ask when the moment felt right—and this moment certainly felt right to him—and yet he couldn't help but feel as though he'd be taking advantage of her emotions if he proposed.

These thoughts went to war inside his head until he mentally said, _"Screw it. A proposal would overjoy any woman, especially when one is so distressed as my dearest Christine is at this moment. And if it's not meant to be, God will put it on her heart to refuse me at this moment, and I will simply try again at later date. And she won't flee from me, for I am her main source of comfort right now. I will propose to her, and even if she refuses, I lose nothing!"_

"But Christine, you can be free..." he said aloud. His hands slowly grasped each side of her waist as he pulled her body away from his so that he may study her.

Her pretty blue eyes were red and watery from the tears, and yet also wide with hope as she gazed up at him. Her face was pale, though her cheeks held a touch of pink, clearly showing that no man had ever held her by her waist like this ever before. Raoul couldn't hold back a quiet chuckle as he noticed this. He enjoyed being able to make his darling Christine blush at even the smallest of things.

"Christine..." he said quietly as his fingers came to rest beneath her chin and his thumb caressed her cheek. "Christine..." he repeated as she closed her eyes at his sweet caress. His thumb wiped away each tear that continued to spill out of her eyes.

_"My God, I can't do this," _he thought to himself, _"How am I supposed to propose to her? I don't know what to say!... But I've already promised her a way to escape, and that way is to become my wife so that I may protect her every moment of every day, and yet I cannot bring myself to ask her! And yet I must! Shit. I do wish to ask her, but I do not know how!"_ He nearly broke into a nervous sweat as he tried to find the words to say, and he soon found them.

He took a deep breath.

"Christine... I love you with all of my heart, and I wish for you to be safe and happy for all of your days... This 'Phantom' has clearly harmed you far worse than I can imagine, and I want to protect you from him and anyone else who tries to upset or hurt you... But the only way I could do that properly is if you were my wife. Now, I know that we've only been in a courtship for a very short time, but…" he knelt before her, "…I love you. I can't imagine an existence without you, nor can I imagine a future for myself without you by my side as Madame Vicomtess de Chagny." He took her hand and kissed it with a small chuckle. "I'm completely, foolishly, irrevocably in love with you, Christine Daaé, and I have been since we were children. I will do anything for you. I will even hide you away in a corner of the world and build you a village full of safety and happiness if you wished! And I need you, and I believe you may need me as well. If you don't think we should be together, tell me and I shall keep as much distance from you as you find appropriate. Or if you wish for us to wait a while longer before you wear my ring, tell me and I will wait for you until my dying day." Then he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the box that contained the ring. "You're the only woman that I have ever loved, and the only one that I ever will love. Christine Daaé... Christine, will you marry me?"

The girl was crying, yes, but her tears had turned to tears of joy and love. She was grinning a grin so large and adorable that Raoul couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh, Raoul! I do! Yes, I will marry you! And we shall be quite happy together, for I love you as much as you love me."

And with that, she held out her left hand and he slid the beautiful diamond ring onto her ring finger. Then he stood, his hands returning to her waist and her hands resting atop his chest once more, and they gazed at each other with love in their eyes and large, goofy grins on their lips. And Raoul leaned in to quickly peck her on the lips, and she giggled and pecked his lips, and they went back and forth pecking each other on the lips until the pecking turned into one, big, lovely kiss.

Each pair of hands came to rest on the side each other's faces as their lips fought for dominance, although Raoul's always seemed to be winning. And they giggled as they kissed each other. They nearly got a little carried away, but they pulled away in a fit of giggles before anything even slightly naughty could happen.

Their faces were still quite close to each other after they stopped, and Christine took this opportunity to rub her nose against his adorably. Then one of Raoul's arms locked around her waist while the other wrapped around her legs so that he could scoop her up into his arms. Then he sat on a bench and had his lovely fiancé sitting upon his lap. He grinned and gazed at her as though she was the only thing in the world that mattered. And the world around them disappeared.

"Kiss me again, Raoul," she requested with a giggle.

And so he happily complied. It was a magnificent feeling to hold and kiss the woman you were madly in love with. But it was cut short as Christine suddenly pulled away.

"My goodness! We've been up here far longer than we should've been... Oh, how I wish I could stay here upon your lap and kiss you, but I must go back. I have to finish the show, otherwise the audience will demand a refund and the managers will be angry," she said, reality rushing back to her.

"Stay. If the audience demands refunds, I'll pay the managers for each ticket that is refunded, if only to kiss you for a moment or two more." He raced two fingers up her leg, (on top of her skirt, of course. He was too much of a gentleman to even think of raising her skirt), and this caused several sweet, high-pitched giggles and squeals from her.

"Oh, Raoul, my love, I wish that could be so," she sighed and stood with him, grasping his hands. "But I must finish this. And I promise, after this performance is over, you can take me away to wherever you wish, and then you may kiss me as much as you wish. Be waiting for me, Raoul, for I shall run right into your arms as soon as I step off of the stage."

Raoul smiled. "For you, my darling, I will fetch my finest horses and carriage, and maybe even buy the best bottle of champagne in Paris to celebrate our engagement."

Christine giggled. "Goodness! If you're doing all of that to celebrate our engagement, then I cannot wait to see what you'll do to celebrate when we are wed!" she joked. And with that she scurried away, Raoul at her heels, attempting to steal a few more kisses before absolutely _had_ to go on stage.

While Christine finished the performance, Raoul instructed Christine's dressing room maid to pack all of the things Christine needed, and then he proceeded to do as he had promised her. After everything was in place, he waited backstage for her. He arrived just before the performers took their bows.

And that's when it all went wrong.

Suddenly, the grand chandelier began to swing back and forth dangerously, and within the blink of an eye, it's ropes had been cut, and it was rapidly falling towards the stage!

Raoul dashed onto the stage, grabbed Christine, and pulled her off of the stage before the chandelier could hit her. After he had pulled her off the stage, he kept running with her until they reached her dressing room, where she quickly changed out of her costume. The very second she was ready, Raoul scooped her up into his arms and rushed out of the opera house, heading straight to the carriage.

The champagne and fine carriage ended up being in vain, for Christine became so frightened and upset that she couldn't bring herself to enjoy it. The poor girl was a trembling, sobbing mess, and poor Raoul had to comfort her.

"Darling, calm down. Look around, you're in the finest carriage, oh and and here's the best glass of champagne in Paris. You like champagne, don't you, dear? Christine! Please, love, at least let me hold you!"

But Christine could not be comforted easily. She let him hold her, but it did little to help her. She barely spoke, and when she did it was:

"He's going to kill me! Raoul, he tried to kill me!"

And Raoul would respond with:

"Hush, dear. No one's trying to kill you. It was only an accident."

But even he knew that this was not an accident.

Something, or rather someone, was trying to cause trouble, especially for his dearest Christine.

Raoul didn't know who it was, but he would find him and kill him, even if it was the last thing he ever did.


	2. Chapter 2

The manor that Raoul shared with his brother was a good ways out of Paris. It took over an hour to get there by carriage. And during that time, Raoul tried everything he could do to get Christine to calm down. But poor Christine stopped crying only about ten minutes before they arrived, and Raoul assumed it was because she was too tired to even cry. It was nearly midnight, after all.

When they arrived, some servants came to help with Christine's bags and Raoul carried her inside. He sat with her in the parlor for a while, until all of her things had been moved into her own room. And then he escorted her to the room. But when they arrived at the door, Christine clung to him and said:

"Don't leave me alone... please..."

Raoul patted her back comfortingly. "You won't be alone, dear. I'll have a maid sit with you til you are sleeping, and I will be there when you wake. You're safe here, darling. Nothing can harm you."

She sighed and released him. And then she disappeared into her room after giving Raoul a final sad, distressed glance.

Raoul lingered outside of the room for a moment. He could hear her sniffling as she became upset again, but he couldn't bring himself to open the door and comfort her. And so instead, he retired to his own room for the night. But he could not sleep. His mind was plagued with thoughts of Christine. And so he sat at the desk in his room to think.

He didn't know how to help her. He didn't know if what she had said of this phantom was true or if it was just a dream. He supposed he could have a doctor of some sort check and see if her mental health was normal. He didn't think Christine was crazy, though. He believed that someone was playing cruel tricks on her. This angered him. Why would someone wish to make Christine feel hurt and confused? She was such an innocent young lady; she didn't deserve to be upset or harmed by anything. She was practically an angel! He wished he knew who was doing this, for he would surely put an end to these horrid tricks! Raoul stood up and began to pace whilst rubbing his forehead. This was certainly a puzzling dilemma.

As he paced toward the door for the 8th time, he noticed a small figure in white nightgown standing in the doorway, clutching a pillow to it's body. Raoul jumped, startled by the mysterious person, until he realized it was none other than...

Christine?

Yes, it was Christine. But hadn't she gone to sleep?

"Christine! What on earth are you doing up?" Raoul asked, a bit concerned.

"I couldn't sleep..." she whispered from behind the pillow.

Raoul sighed softly in relief and sunk into his desk chair. He motioned for her to come to him, and she did, and he placed her upon his lap.

"Did the maid not help you?"

She shook her head.

"Is the a specific reason why you can't sleep?"

"...Nightmares..." came the hesitant, quiet reply.

He sighed and tightened his arms around her for comfort. "Would you like to stay in here with me for the night?"

She nodded. "Yes... I was hoping you'd allow it..."

And so he stood up with her in his arms and carried her to the bed. He tucked her in under the sheets and blankets. Then he sat in a chair near the bed and waited for her to fall asleep.

But this still didn't work for her.

"Raoul... If you could... Could you please hold me, at least 'til I am sleeping?" She asked timidly.

He was a little surprised at this request. "You mean, you want me to lay beside you and hold you in my arms until you are asleep?"

She nodded.

Well, of course, Raoul wasn't one to say no to Christine.

Within a few moments, Raoul had climbed into the bed and was laying right beside her. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, and she relaxed so much that he wondered just how stressed and upset she had been before.

She placed her hands on his chest for a while, but soon wrapped her arms around him so that she could lay her head on his chest. He gently played with her curls and hummed to her until she finally fell asleep. He didn't dare move, afraid that he might wake her from the sleep she so desperately needed, so he fell asleep holding her.

~oOo~

Now, Raoul had an older brother named Phillipe de Chagny, who lived in the manor with Raoul. If Raoul ever slept past 9:30 am, Phillipe would barge into his room, yelling loudly.

Well, Raoul and Christine just happened to sleep past 9:30 that morning.

"WAKE UP RAO-oh my god you have a girl in here?!"

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**A/N: Oh my goodness! Poor Phillipe! God knows what he thinks us going on XD Ah, thank you for the views, but I have only received one review :_( I don't ****_need_**** reviews, but when I don't get many, I doubt my abilities as a writer. I know most don't show RxC, but literacy wise, how am I doing? Am I making things too sad? Are the chapters too long? Etc. I can't change unless I have input. Thank you!**


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